Jauntily, Minna swayed from side to side, carefully balancing the six- foot branch in her mouth. She quickened her pace, holding her head high as if she wanted the entire neighborhood to admire her large limb that only a big, strong Rottie could carry. Pride just oozed with each step closer to home, where we’d stack her collections until one day we had a bonfire. Then, Minna frantically tried to rescue her treasure, not believing she should leave it.
We Christians can be a lot like Minna.
We excitedly discover attractive distractions as we walk through our days. We proudly stockpile shiny souvenirs, guarding over them, rescuing them, not realizing our ‘treasure’ needs to turn to ash.
John the Baptist issued a wake-up call to believers in Luke 3:17, “His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (HCSB)
Of course our profession of faith in God is good!
But do we confess with our tongues only? What does our attention span suggest?
Do we too surround ourselves with distractions, constructing a shell around our hearts that disallows us to fully experience God’s love, His goodness, and His transformation of us?
Our hearts are like those referenced kernels of wheat. The distractions we choose are the chaff.
Farmers understand separating chaff from the wheat kernels is a laborious, messy process. Much beating, shaking, and tearing must take place to finally separate the small, fine kernel from that worthless shell.
All that chaff kicks up in the slightest breeze, blowing everywhere for all to see.
That chaff could cause us a lot of shame.
But Jesus promises to corral that chaff- in fact burning it in a fire that never goes out! Not even the ashes of that chaff will one day again take flight!
And that small, fine kernel? That is His prized possession! For when we are stripped bare- our defenses and distractions are gone. That, that is when He knows He has our full attention, and our entire hearts.
That is when He can grow us, mold us, and make us into the very treasure He envisioned when He created us in our mother’s womb.
Our part in this freedom-finding moment is twofold:
- We must be willing to surrender our chaff- our distractions.
- We must resist the urge to reach into that fire to retrieve them!
Let God pull those shells off our hearts.
Let Him fully captivate us without distraction.
Let Him work in our lives, developing a stronger faith- a faith that doesn’t sidetrack as easily.
Maybe like me, you find yourself occasionally lugging large limbs, proudly presenting a stockpile of shiny souvenirs. Maybe you also struggle with surrendering these distractions over to our Heavenly Father.
He’s waiting patiently for us to come to Him, hearts bared, ready for Him, and Him alone.
Won’t you join me in praying for this type of freedom?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, help me to surrender all my shiny souvenirs of this life to You. Please shake my chaff and expose what is usable. Draw me closer to You. Help me focus on You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.